


What Lies In The Lake

by Sasspiria



Series: AU-gust 2020 [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood Magic, Collars, Creepy Katagawa jr., M/M, Non-Consensual Kissing, Nymph Rhys, Obsessive Behavior, Ownership, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:14:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25644880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasspiria/pseuds/Sasspiria
Summary: When Katagawa Jr. comes back to his families new estate, after a freak accident happens in the lake, he meets the lakes nymph - a beautiful, kind young man named Rhys. He becomes infatuated and obsessed with the nymph and goes down a dark path in order to keep Rhys all to himself.
Relationships: Katagawa Jr./Rhys (Borderlands)
Series: AU-gust 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831921
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25
Collections: AUgust 2020





	What Lies In The Lake

**Author's Note:**

> had to reupload this because ao3 was acting wonky 
> 
> [come talk to me on twitter!](https://twitter.com/Sasspiria)

It had been a long time since Katagawa Jr. had even deigned to come and visit with his family – on purpose, he had much better things to do than spend all day with his lazy and spoiled siblings. He would much rather spend the rest of his days, sailing the seas, looking for new land to plunder and

But his father had demanded that he come and spend the summer in their new estate. And whatever father wanted, he got. So, he had torn himself from his work and put on his best fake smile as he prepared to deal with all twelve of his siblings… and his father. The next estate was large and sprawling – luxurious and fit for a king. It wasn’t just the house either. There were also gardens, an orchard, a few acres of farmland and a lake. They even had their own road.

Katagawa walked through the main gates, looking around the place, he heard raucous laughter and lots of talking. Everyone was already here. They were already having a party – that was good, the only time that he could stand his siblings was when the whole lot of them were inebriated and more interested in dancing and revelry than they were about affairs of state and what would be done with their

Katagawa and his siblings had quite a few disagreements about what Maliwan should be. They were more interested in coasting off of the interests from their profits and their brand reputation. He saw it differently, he wanted to take Maliwan to newer soaring heights. He wanted to build an empire off of what was an incredibly profitable trading dynasty. He wanted Maliwan to be everything. He told himself that one day, he would be running things. But for now he would have to be patient. For now he would just have to wait and curry his father’s favor.

“Junior!” The familiar voice of his sister, Naoko rang out like an alarm. He turned around to see her scantily clad in swimwear, holding a large goblet filled with sweet liquor and wine. She raised it up over her head like she was using it as a signal. Katagawa forced a smile on his face and greeted her with as much charm as he could manage. “We were all going to go swimming in the lake, would you like to join us?” She asked.

Katagawa grinned smugly, “Of course. You know how much I love a good party!” He said, he was perfectly happy to strip down to his underwear and pour himself a goblet of wine so he could drink himself happy. He drank a glass of wine and made the arguably poor decision to take a dip in the lake and explore its depths.

He swam for a while, going deep under the water and swimming through what looked like a cave that had been partly hidden by bushes and vines. Then… suddenly someone was by his side, there to untangle him from the knotted up rocks. His vision started to spot and he felt his body getting weaker as his rescuer pulled him up out of the lake and took him to the surface. His eyes opened seconds after that and he coughed out

“You saved me.” He exclaimed as he looked at the young man in front of him. He was otherworldly looking. In some ways, he looked just like a young man – a beautiful young man, with a lovely face and curly brown hair that framed his face perfectly. Even while it was soaking wet. In other ways, it was obvious that he wasn’t just some boy who was swimming in the private. His skin glittered in such a way, like it was made of diamonds or other precious jewels like that. His body was thin and lanky and he noticed that his right arm seemed to be make not of flesh, but of deep metals and what he could only think of as magic. He was absolutely breathtaking and Katagawa found himself speechless as he took in the sight of him.

Thankfully, Rhys didn’t notice how marveled he was. “Of course.” The nymph said, giggling like Katagawa had said something very silly. “This is my lake! I wouldn’t like it if someone died in it.” He explained and then he giggled, “That was just a little joke. You know, because corpses tend to rot and bloat up in the water and it’s not pleasant- you know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything.” He babbled.

“Uh-” Katagawa stuttered. “Your lake? Who… what are you?” He asked, looking at him with astonishment and shock present in his gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to look away from the young man. He was too beautiful. It was like he was hypnotizing him, with just a glance and a small smile.

“Well…” His rescuer started to giggle again, the sound made his heart flutter. “My name is Rhys and I suppose I’m what a human might call a naiad, or a nymph.” He explained. “I’m a bit like a spirit, in some ways, and I reside over the lake, I protect it from harm and bless it with my abilities.” Then he smiled nervously, “And you are…” He trailed off, giving Katagawa the chance to introduce himself.

It was only then that the human managed to claw his way back to reality. “Oh, I, uh-” He smiled and readjusted, putting on a false front of friendliness. He put out his hand for Rhys to shake. “Katagawa Jr.” He said, “My family owns this lake and all the ground around it, actually.” He explained.

“Oh… well it’s nice to meet you.” Then he pouted, “Could you do me a favor, though?”

“Anything.” Katagawa said, just a little too quickly.

“Could you not tell them about this cave?” He requested, “I don’t like the idea of that many humans knowing… about me. It’s dangerous for someone like me.” Then he smiled, “But you can come and visit me anytime, if you like. It can be awfully lonely sometimes.”

Katagawa was sure that he felt his heart stop and he was dead, for maybe a second or two when he heard that. He wasn’t sure if that was a normal response, but he did know that he couldn’t deny the chance to see him again. “Oh. Right. Of course I will.” He smiled, genuinely this time. “It’ll be our little secret, I promise.”

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Katagawa visited Rhys many times. He loved the nymph’s company, he was lovely and intelligent and friendly. He was unlike anyone that he had met before. No one had taken the time to speak to him gently and take their time learning who he was. No one had ever cared enough to bother with him before. And Rhys had been so kind to him, so sweet and so nurturing and so attentive to his needs.

It was addicting, to be treated like that, after having gone so long convincing himself that he didn’t need it. That he didn’t want it. He knew that, soon, he would have to go back to the Zanara. He would have to go back to his career, to what he had thought for so long was his passion. And it still was. He wanted to sail the high seas again, wanted to get into battle and take plunder in the strange lands that he found. He still wanted that.

He couldn’t let Rhys go though. It was like being around him, spending time with him had filled a hole that had long been in his heart. He didn’t want to lose that, he didn’t want to go back to that aching nothingness. But according to Rhys, he couldn’t leave his domain – he was tied to it. So he decided that he was going to take matters in his own hands.

Magic had been a… very particular hobby of Katagawa’s. He liked to keep it a secret, as it wasn’t something that his father approved of. Though, it wasn’t just his father. Many people did not approve of magic, most thought that it was dangerous and unnatural. That nothing good would come of it, and maybe they were right about that but he thought that it was necessary to get the things that he wanted – money, power and the little nymph that had vexed him so quickly came to mind.

He poured through all of the books and tomes that he had brought along with him, but none of them had any information on nymphs – how to control them or keep them in one’s possession. It was when he was at the point of nearly tearing out pages in one of the books – an introductory guide to enchantments and binding rituals – that he decided to go into town and see if he could find something better. He knew that there were lots of peddlers in the town with an interest in magic.

* * *

He had gone through at least several conventional magic shops with no success, every time that he told them, specifically, what he wanted to do they all shunned him or looked upon him with fear in their eyes. It was a stroke of luck that he came upon a small, creepy looking shop that looked like it had just what he needed inside of it.

He entered the shop and was immediately greeted by the shop keep, a rotund man by the name of Marcus. He asked Katagawa what he was in the mood for, if he wanted any potions or spells, or if he was interested in some artifacts of mysterious origin. Katagawa was quick to tell him what he needed from the shop keep. “I’m looking for something that can, er, trap a nymph and keep him bound to me and keep him bound to me forever.” He said, “Or at least until I die.”

Marcus’ gaze darkened at that, “Trying to tame a creature like that would take dangerous, old magic. Not much for a novice.” He huffed. “Have you considered something more

“I’ll pay whatever you want.” Katagawa replied, leaving no room for arguments – his tone firm and harsh.

Marcus hummed approvingly, “Well, that changes everything!” He said, then he stood up from his seat and opened up a curtain revealing a secret room. “Come on back, I’m sure I have something for a, er, discerning customer such as yourself. Eh?” Katagawa nodded shortly and allowed himself to be brought back into the room. Marcus walked around the cluttered space, “Not this, not this, not this either… bah, where the hell is it?” Then he started to grumble to himself, rooting around the room and throwing around books and magical artifacts in his search. “Ah-ha! Here they are.” He exclaimed triumphantly. He pulled out an old looking spell book, a knife and a strange looking bottle.

“What is all this?” He asked, looking down at the mishmash of things with a perplexed expression spread across his face.

“Everything you need to trap your water nymph.” He explained, “The book will explain everything. The ritual is… eh, very intricate. It needs to be done just so.” He gave him a meaningful look, “You’ll want to try and practice on someone else before the nymph. Maybe more than once or twice.”

“On who?”

“Any friends or family you aren’t particularly fond of?” Marcus replied flippantly. Katagawa nodded. Who didn’t? Marcus hummed approvingly at that, “Good, good, I will ask no more questions about that.” He chuckled at his own little joke. “Now, for your payment. That will be cash… or cash.”

* * *

Katagawa had been busy for the past few weeks, getting everything ready for the ritual. It had to be done perfectly if he was to have Rhys as his own and take him with him all over the world, never allowed to leave his side. Never allowed to stray or pull away. Always and forever his.

He wanted this more than he had wanted anything that he had ever wanted before. His want for Rhys was intoxicating, it was all consuming, it was maddening. He was incredibly focused on making sure that the ritual worked. It had to work, he had put too much effort into it already. He had done so much to get him, done things that he had never thought himself capable of before. He had slaughtered all of his brothers and sisters in the process of practicing the ritual so it was just right. Well. Almost all of them, somehow Naoko had gotten away in the middle of the night before he had the chance to take her away and practice on her. But it didn’t really matter anyway. He had finally perfected the ritual on Yuko. So he didn’t need to kill her, at least not at the moment.

Katagawa arrived at Rhys’ special cave late in the morning, bringing the nymph lots of goodies to coax him right where he wanted him. Then he drew the binding circle on the ground and sliced his hand open and letting a few drops of blood fall onto the ground, then he cast a special incantation on it. He smiled. Perfect, he thought. “Rhys!” He called, “Are you there, buddy? I wanted to come and see you before I have to go back on the road… I brought you some gifts. I know how much you like it when I bring you pretty things for your collection…” He added teasingly.

He had brought Rhys some gifts. He had brought him jewelry and gems and strange little things that he just knew that the nymph would be purring and preening over. It was a little strange just how materialistic Rhys was, but Katagawa was happy to take advantage of it. Rhys appeared at the edge of the lake in moments, a gentle smile spread across his face. He sat himself down on the cool stone ground. Right inside of the circle that Katagawa had just drawn down.

“It’s nice to see you, Kat.” He hummed, running his fingers through his hair as he spoke to the human with a fond smile spread across his face. He reached towards the box filled with gifts and looked at each little item, admiring it and mumbling positive words about each item. After he put everything back in its box, he reached forwards and gave Katagawa a kiss on the cheek in thanks.

It was something that he had done before and he used that to his advantage. As Rhys began to pull away, he grabbed the nymphs wrist and sliced his palm open, then he grabbed Rhys hand and squeezed it with his own wounded hand, mixing their blood together. “Kat! What are you doing?” Rhys asked helplessly. Katagawa didn’t answer him properly, he said another incantation. “Please! You’re frightening me…” The nymph whimpered pitifully.

“I can’t let you go, Rhys.” Katagawa replied, his tone fond and gentle. He let Rhys go as soon as he noticed that the magic had started to take effect on the nymph’s body. For Rhys’ part, all he felt was agony, it was like all of his bones and muscles were tearing and breaking down – crunching into dust and bone meal. The pain that he was in was agonizing. It was worse than anything that Rhys had ever experienced before. He was horrified by the sudden turn of events.

When the agony finally stopped, Rhys was small and shrunken down – much smaller than he ever had been before. He was so small that he could fit in the palm of the humans hands. “W-what did you do to me?” He asked, looking up at the human balefully. He had no idea why he would do something so cruel to him, after he had done nothing but be kind to the man. He didn’t understand why anyone would do something like this.

Katagawa chuckled, and it sounded much louder than it should have. Rhys put his hands over his ears to try to block out some of the noise. “I shrunk you, so I could put you away and take you home with me.” Rhys’ eyes lit up with horror. He shook his head and whimpered as he was picked up and carried with incredible gentleness and care by the human. “But don’t worry, Rhys, you don’t have to be afraid.” Katagawa purred down to the captive little nymph. Rhys held on tight, with horror and fear in his eyes as he was hoisted up and carried away to be put in what looked like a terrarium. He glared up at Katagawa. “I’ll keep you safe and sound here from now on.” He leered possessively.

Then something even more strange happened, Katagawa did another incantation. Then he shrunk inside of the artifact along with him. He took a long, striding steps towards Rhys and held his arms out like he was some kind of prize for Rhys to behold. “See, I can even visit you.” He said, a smug smirk spread across his face, “You and me are gonna travel the world, buddy.”

Rhys shook his head at that, an unreadable expression spread across his face. “N-no you can’t do that! I need to be in my lake.” He reached out towards the thick glass, “Please, you must return me there. It’s not too late.” He begged pitifully, feeling helpless and miserable. “You know not what you do…” But Katagawa wasn’t listening to anything he said anymore he was already packing up all of his things… of which Rhys was now one of, the nymph realized with a sick feeling at the thought of it.

“Now, don’t be so blue…” Katagawa responded as Rhys sunk down onto the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. “You’ll learn to love this new home in time and I’m sure that, after a while you’ll forget that you ever wanted to go back to that muggy old lake.”

“No I won’t.” Rhys said firmly. “Take me back. You don’t understand what’s at stake.” He tried to form his thoughts into something coherent. “I’m not supposed to leave my domain for long. If I do… I could shrivel up and turn into dust. I could die!” He said desperately, begging and pleading for the human to understand with his eyes. He should have known that someone would do something like this to him eventually. Rhys had always been naive and trusting, even with humans. And that was a dangerous game for him to play. Humans never cared to understand the consequences of their actions. So long as the consequences didn’t strike out at them, they couldn’t be bothered.

He would return to Jack, which was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, he would be glad to see him, after so many years separated from him. On the other hand, he was sure that Jack would be disappointed to find that he had allowed himself to be captured and trapped by some human.

Katagawa smirked at Rhys, “Oh, but you are in your domain.” He said, “See, that little spell I cast didn’t just shrink you down, it bound you to me. By blood.” He explained. “So as long as you stay in a place or an object that I bless with my blood, you will always be safe. I know this place isn’t perfect, but don’t worry it doesn’t have to be permanent. If you behave, when we return to my vessel, the Zanara I will find you the perfect place to make your new permanent domain.” Then he smiled, his eyes alight.

‘Bound by blood?’ Rhys thought as a disgruntled expression spread across his face. It didn’t sound like it was possible to Rhys. “Y-you can’t-” He started to babble, “That’s not possible. You can’t-”

“This spell is very old magic.” Katagawa soothed, “Creatures like you are rare in this world now.” Then he grabbed Rhys flesh arm and ran his fingers down the length of it, from his shoulder down to his rest. It made Rhys’ hair stand on end. “It might seem complex if you don’t understand, but it’s actually quite simple.” He hummed. “You know, humans… we’re made of water. Mostly water. Even our blood is composed of it, though it is thicker. And a water nymph like you is bound to water. See what I mean? Simple.”

Katagawa let him go then and Rhys practically ran back away from him. He started to feel strange and dizzy then. “Though, it takes a while to fully go into affect. Kind of annoying but… there’s no rushing perfection.” He grinned deviously, “But look.” Katagawa marveled. “It’s finally happening right now.”

Rhys panicked as delicate chains began to form all over his body, making delicate twinkling noises every time that he twitched or moved. There were cuffs around his ankles and wrists and, finally, a collar had formed around his neck. He clawed at the collar and cuffs, desperately trying to pull them off of him. But there was no use. There was no key or any way to unlock them, it was like they had been fused on his body by a blacksmith. Whether he had intended to or not, Katagawa had enslaved him. “No-” Rhys shook his head, panic building up inside of him as he came to terms with what was happening to him. “No, no… no! You didn’t, y-you-” He choked down a sob, “I misjudged you. I was wrong. You’re a monster.” He spat.

“Yes.” Katagawa replied, paying no mind to his insults. “I’ve thought of everything. This is exactly where you belong Rhys, you’ll come to realize that in time.” He soothed, like that made it any better. Like it made any of this better.

“But I don’t want to be here!” Rhys shouted, “I want to be back home now!” He stomped his foot on the ground like a petulant child. He had never felt so helpless before.

“Doesn’t matter what you want.” Katagawa snapped, his voice so icy and cruel that Rhys took a step away from him – as if there was any way that he could ever be safe around him anymore. Katagawa cornered him until he was standing against the cool glass. His fingers knotted in Rhys’ wavy locks as he forced his lips against the nymphs own. No matter how much Rhys wanted to fight him, he couldn’t bring himself to raise his fist at the human and strike out at him. Something stopped him every time that he tried, something unnatural that was rooted deep inside of him. He hated it.

By the time that Katagawa pulled away from the cruel kiss, Rhys felt like he was suffocating. Trapped and isolated away from everything that he had ever known. Then he caressed Rhys' cheek, sweet and soft like they were lovers. “You’re _mine_ now.”


End file.
